Divot Party Trophy 20th October 2019

This trophy celebrates those members who have given their previous time to assist our wonderful greenkeeping staff and was originally the brainchild  of our Secretary now Captain-elect Matt Goodall ... in recent years the number of members taking part has dwindled with a low of 4 members in 2013 ... today only 14 members took part ... 

The contenders 🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️

Sash Neersoo (79/9/70) is one of our best ball-strikers and today he  has snatched the Divot Party Trophy at the final hole to win his first individual Board Competition and third overall . Sash began with a sloppy net bogey 5 but then regrouped immediately and parred the next 4 holes (which included net birdies on 2,4 and 5) before a rollercoaster journey to the turn courtesy of pars on 7 and 8 spicing sloppy bogeys on 6 and 9 . Sash got to the turn in a good position , -1 and just one off the lead .He safely negotiated the 10th hole in regulation then inexplicably succumbed to a disastrous net TB 7 on the benign 11th thus started his Amen Corner adventure back in  midtable and in need of a positive response . Sash regrouped superbly with a tremendous net birdie 5 on 12 , and although he was to give that shot back on 13 he was to play 14 to regulation then net birdie the dangerous 15th which still saw him 3 strokes behind the leader . Neersoo took on those last three 'Championship holes' and parred all three , 17 and 18 crucial net birdies which sensationally took him through the field to claim an unlilkely victory .

Ged Grogan (81/10/71) started his round sensationally , a net birdie 4 on the opening hole then a superb net eagle on 2 propelling him clear at -3 and in early control of the competition . A Momentum was maintained playing the the next couple of holes to regulation before Grogan increased his lead at the top with another net birdie at the difficult 5th hole . Inexplicably Ged then lost form and net bogeyed 6,8 and 9 to fall back to -1 at the turn and one stroke behind . After playing 10 to regulation he was another contender to poorly play 11 , a net triple bogey further dampening his hopes and sending him tumbling down the leaderboard as he started his Amen Corner adventure . GED regrouped superbly , playing 12 ,13 and 14 to regulation then taking closer order with a superb net birdie 5 on 15 . Still 3 strokes back with just the Championship holes left , Grogan dug deep and parred 16 and 17 to get to level par on just one behind … he needed a 4 to take the trophy but a 5 meant a frustrating second place but a fine campaign .

Stuart Mason (84/13/71) has had a stellar season and today was rightly considered to be one of the favourites to take this trophy . He started cautiously , playing the first quartet of holes in regulation . The a Captain-elect then took closer order and propelled himself into early condition with a superb net birdie 4 on the long 2th then sensationally net eagled the 7th to go -3 and take the leadership ...inexplicably Stuart succumbed to a bogey 5 on 9 but crucially still held the lead at the turn . He bounced back immediately by a net birdie 4 on 10 and maintained momentum playing 11 to regulation to start his Amen Corner adventure from the heady heights of -3 . Sadly he gave back 2 shots to the field courtesy of a triple bogey 8 to again blow the competition wide open . Once again Mason stabilised his round playing 13 to regulation then bounced back with a crucial  net birdie 4 on 14 then maintain momentum with a net par on 15 to stand on the 16th tee in a fantastic position as the frailties of his rivals gave him a 3 stroke lead . and in complete control . Stuart had shown himself to be one of the clubs most in-form players but he stumbled on 16 and gave a shot back but he held his nerve on 17 to play that to regulation to retain a slender one shot advantage as he stood on the final tee . He simply required to play 18 in a regulation 5 to take the trophy . Six heartbreaking strokes later Mason had let the trophy slip from his grasp . A devastating loss but one where he had performed so well on the tougher holes but crucially  poorly on the supposedly  ‘easier’ ones .

Special mentions ...

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Roy Dickens (89/17/72) started steadily and after playing the first four holes in regulation then produced consecutive net birdies on 5 and 6 and maintaining momentum with 7 and 8 played in regulation before sloppy play on the benign 9th meant that  he leaked two strokes and got to the turn at level par , 2 strokes from the lead . His back 9 saw gains on 10 and 17 but lapses at 11,15 and 16 left him 2 strokes shy but a fine effort nevertheless!
 

Danny Miller (79/6/73) started phenomenally well with an opening  salvo with an immediate gain on a tricky opening hole then consolidating that effort with a further gain on 2. After seemingly maintaining momentum with a pair of quality pars he then gave both strokes back courtesy of a horror net DB 7 ! Although he regrouped with two pars (a net birdie 4 on 7 getting him back to -1 he was sloppy on the final two holes of his back 9 to get to the turn 3 strokes back . He was never to get close enough to properly challenge but gains on 14 and 17 tempered with reverses on 11,13 and 15 left him 3 strokes back in fifth . 
 

Andrew Window (90/17/73) had a terrific start to his round and net birdied the opening hole . His front 8 was rollercoaster in that he had the angst of reverses on 3,4 against the joys of gains on 1,5 and 6 ... standing on the 9th tee on -2 ready to play our ‘easiest’ hole he looked to be in position to take control of the competition. Inexplicably , Window shattered all dreams of at least leading at the turn were dashed as he slumped to a net DB 6 to finish at level par , 2 off the lead. Three holes later he found himself in joint leadership with a crucial gain on 11 spliced between important regulation holes . Sadly his rise to joint leadership heralded a slide down the table as this dapper gent had consecutive reverses on 13,14 and 15 to fall 4 shots back . A second back 9 gain on 16 only heralded a further net bogey on 17 and he was to finish in sixth place 3 strokes back .

Defending Champion Watch ...

Our 2018 champion Paul MacDonald was not available to defend his title . 
 

Gross Watch ...

Messrs Neersoo and Miller both scored the low score of 79 today .